Equipment needed to print on beer bottle caps

[supurb]

Hi there,

I've been working with my Roland for a while now and love it. I'm looking to expand my operation. I'd like to start printing custom beer bottle caps (small runs of 100-200 caps at a time). Could anyone point me in the right direction for the correct equipment to do this. I'm thinking a "pad printer" is to be used but there are so many of them out there i'm not even sure where to start. It seems like these are also limited in the amount of colors that can be used. Any guidance, explanation of options, or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MikePro]

stick with what you have. print/lam on clear, cut as undersized circles, and apply onto the cap. if you have the ability to print white, even better, but if you don't... then maybe purchase white bottlecaps and work into your design? or just design a cap logo that doesn't require a white base, just as good.

 

[royster13]

You can print in sheet form and then use heat and vacuum to form the sheet to the caps....Probably not something you can set up without spending a bunch of money.....

 

[J Hill Designs]

another way to spend a bunch of money: desktop flatbed + jig

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

A 4 color pad printer would be the way to go, but there not cheap

 

[supurb]

I'd be selling these in fairly large batches and the customer would be supplying the image. If I am printing and cutting and applying i'm thinking that might be time quite time consuming. Definitely not out of the realm of possibility since i'd be already set up to do this. I am curious about the flat bed printer. What is the Jig, is that the mold the cap would sit in? Any idea of the speed on one of these machines.

I'm thinking anything that prints directly to the cap would be quicker. Obviously the big companies print on caps using very large commercial machinery that no person in my position could use. However, people are already selling small batches of custom caps online so I know it can be done. I'm just not sure how. You think flat bed printer over pad printer? Looks then then you have a wider color selection. Any other ideas what people might be using ?

 

[supurb]

A 4 color pad printer would be the way to go, but there not cheap

I do see that those are pretty pricey. Can they only do 4 colors ? Are they pretty quick?

 

[J Hill Designs]

ok so small format flat bed:

the 'jig' would be a board with a set of holes, sized for the bottle caps, to make sure you print in the right place

set up template, add art, RIP, throw caps in the jig, print, profit (after maybe 20k of em =))

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

You never seen a pad printer in action before, they have ones semi automatic and fully automatic the fully automatics are very fast 1,000s of impressions an hour. But then again they are costly

 

[MikePro]

I'd imagine that you could also mimic a pad printer, which is essentially an automated screen printer, using a series of screens & jigs.
at that scale (size not quantity), however, I'd imagine that registration between colors would be tough on the front-end for each job.

pad printers are awesome, btw. +1pricey, but cost&effort per unit is extremely minimal.
i love the UV flatbed+jig idea, as the printer could also be used to expand other areas of your business. You get a pad printer, you're completely limited to bottlecaps&pokerchips&alike.

 

[Andrew O]

An LEF series machine would do it. Of course, as the Roland guy, I have an interest in that recommendation, but I know they work since we've done a bunch of bottle caps as samples. Shoot me a PM with your address and I'd be happy to send a sample. You can fit a lot of bottle caps on the bed of even the smaller machine.

 

[scuba_steve2699]

An LEF series machine would do it. Of course, as the Roland guy, I have an interest in that recommendation, but I know they work since we've done a bunch of bottle caps as samples. Shoot me a PM with your address and I'd be happy to send a sample. You can fit a lot of bottle caps on the bed of even the smaller machine.

I am with Andrew on this one - I just got an LEF12 for testing etc. and it is crazy all of the items you can print on.

 

[Turtle]

I would think the caps need to be kept sterile until being placed on the bottle. Taking them and putting them through a print cycle may very well contaminate them. The more exposed the more likely... Printing on clear with a white ink might be a safer option here. The decals can be pre-cut on a sheet and after bottling the product someone can place it on.


Mark